Ukrainian and Polish Source Literature on Volunteerism and the Russian-Ukrainian War of 2014

Abstract

The article analyzes Ukrainian and Polish source literature on the war over the control of Donbas that has been waged by Russia and Ukraine since 2014, and military volunteers who participated in the conflict. The evolution of Ukrainian military volunteerism as a way of life of the ethnos and a cultural phenomenon merits further ethnological research in Ukraine and Poland. For this reason, historical literature, literature on sociology and social pedagogy, journalistic sources and other source literature should be analyzed to explore difficult war circumstances, new military traditions and volunteerism. The establishment and evolution of military volunteerism in contemporary Ukraine as a social and cultural phenomenon has not yet emerged as a major topic of ethnological research in Ukraine or Poland. The article draws upon literary sources that lay the historical foundations for volunteerism through mutual assistance and acts of good will on behalf of Ukrainian citizens. Scientific literature and journalistic sources concerning volunteerism should also be reviewed. Academic papers (reports from scientific conferences, political negotiations, dissertations), opinion journalism (memoirs and interviews) and literary works (novels, essays, short stories and poetry) published in contemporary Poland and Ukraine constitute important sources of information about the armed forces and military volunteers.